In each of the following questions, choose the word opposite in meaning to the given word.
Enervate
Answer: A
The opposite is strengthen.
To enervate is to drain of strength, from the Latin for removing the sinews. It is often misused to mean energise, which is its exact reverse.
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Niggardly
Answer: C
The opposite is prodigal.
Niggardly means stingy; prodigal means recklessly extravagant. The two are exact opposites in the spending of money.
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Hyperbole
Answer: D
The opposite is understatement.
Hyperbole is deliberate exaggeration for effect, from the Greek for throwing beyond. Understatement, or litotes, is its rhetorical opposite.
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Irreparable
Answer: B
The opposite is correctable.
Irreparable means impossible to repair or put right; correctable can be put right.
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Reticence
Answer: A
The opposite is loquaciousness.
Reticence is a reluctance to speak; loquaciousness is talking a great deal. Fatigue, fashion and treachery have nothing to do with speech.
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Erratic
Answer: D
The opposite is steady.
Erratic means irregular and unpredictable, from the Latin errare, to wander. Steady holds a constant course.
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Noisome
Answer: C
The opposite is fragrant.
Noisome means offensive in smell, from annoy rather than from noise - it has nothing to do with sound, which is what makes quiet the trap here.
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Rustic
Answer: A
The opposite is urban.
Rustic belongs to the countryside; urban to the city.
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Capacious
Answer: D
The opposite is not spacious.
Capacious means holding a great deal, from the Latin capere, to take. The other options describe temper and disposition.
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Aloof
Answer: B
The opposite is gregarious.
Aloof means keeping apart from others; gregarious means fond of company, from the Latin grex, a flock.
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